LOS ANGELES — The year just ended was a good one for the movie business, as worldwide spending on films in 2012 grew 2 percent, or $1.3 billion, to $62.4 billion, a report released this week said.

The increase comes after a modest uptick of 0.9 percent in 2011 and declines in 2008 and 2009, according to research firm IHS. Data from 2010 was not immediately available. Over the next four years, IHS expects movie spending to continue growing 2 percent to 3 percent.

Cinemas and the Asia-Pacific region were the two biggest contributors to last year’s growth. Movie spending in China, which is in the midst of a theater-building binge, along with Japan, India and other nearby countries, grew 12 percent last year to $10 billion.

By 2016, the region should be No. 2 in the world, behind North America, IHS predicted. It is currently No. 3, behind Western Europe.

Spending on movie tickets increased 7 percent to $33.4 billion as more people visited theaters in every region of the world.

But consumers bought and rented fewer DVDs and Blu-rays, with total spending on discs down 3 percent to $23.7 billion, continuing a longtime trend.

Purchases and rentals of movies online grew to $4.9 billion (IHS did not disclose the percentage rise). However, the digital realm still remains a relatively small part of the mix, accounting for just 7 percent of global spending on films.

The positive global news comes after a good year in the domestic market. Box-office receipts in the U.S. and Canada rose a combined 6 percent, and home entertainment spending edged up 0.23 percent after falling for the previous seven years.